The library at the Clock Tower was a marvel for Liam. The size alone rivaled the auditorium he had his first class in, except rather than just rows of desks, the entire building was simply filled with books. Bookcases curved around the walls of the upper level, while on the ground floor there were more ordinary, singular shelves of books.

Flat and Liam searched through the different cubicles on the first floor. They were similar to all the desks he had seen at the Tower, long wooden desks meant to be used by a few people. These, however, had small walls clearly separating each desk from each other.

"Ben? You here yet?" Liam called out in a half-whisper. Flat mimicked him as they searched different sections until a familiar voice popped up.

"Over here." He spoke at a normal volume, much to Liam's surprise. The two approached Ben, who was sitting at an empty cubicle on the left half of the building. "You don't need to whisper, theres really no one else here."

Liam disregarded the fact that people didn't want to go to such an amazing library and focused himself, taking the chair from the neighboring desk at sitting next to Ben. "You know about Curses right? Also, this is Flat." He gestured to the boy standing next to the two of them.

"Yeah, I know, and yes I do." Ben smiled, closing the book he was currently reading. Liam recoiled and looked between the two.

"You two know each other?"

"Nope! Not at all." Flat remarked confidently.

"He's famous too for us New Agers, even more than you." Ben explained as he sat back in his chair. "Why do you ask about Curses?"

Liam shook his head to reorient himself. "I need to see if I've been cursed by someone." He recounted the illusion he had seen two days prior, although it did begin to get on his nerves when Ben wasn't surprised by the whole ordeal.

"Well, we can definitely try, but there's no guarantee we'll see who made the curse. Especially if they're skilled enough." The boy explained before picking up another book from the stack he had placed on the desk.

"Does this really happen that often?" Liam huffed. Both Ben and Flat looked at each other and shrugged.

"It's definitely not uncommon. One time, my teacher talked bad about some higher ups, and he immediately got counter cursed!" Flat laughed as he pulled over a different chair, sitting on it backwards.

Liam shook his head, feeling a headache coming on.

- -

After a few hours of research, Ben led them to his house.

"My parents actually live super close to the Clock Tower, so they just let me live there." He explained as they drove down the road leading out of the school. Now that they had exited the college town around the school, Liam noticed just how lively London truly was. Flat explained that there were many thing called "Bounded Fields" around the school, which essentially meant it kept people away.

"It really saves on money," Ben continued, bringing Liam's attention back to their current task. "And they let me set up a sort of Workshop there."

They arrived fairly quickly, which made Liam grateful that Ben drove rather than walked. He didn't want to imagine how long it'd take to walk to and back from his house.

It was a fairly ordinary and modern home. The outer walls were made of a slightly off-white plaster-unlike the complete brick buildings Liam was used to seeing. They pulled into the driveway and hopped out of the car, following Ben to the side of the house.

"Generally, you want to make Workshops either underground or very high up, for the sake of Mana and remoteness." Flat chimed in while waiting for Ben to unlock the cellar doors. In truth, Liam would have loved to listen to more explanations, but his mind was preoccupied by the rituals they were going to perform.

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The cellar itself was horribly lighted, with a few candles burned down to only an inch or two of wax serving as the only light sources. Their footsteps sent small particles of broken brick further into the cellar with loud crunches. The inside was made of the familiar brick Liam had seen before-an almost rust colored red.

Ben slammed the doors behind them before picking up a lantern hanging on the wall next to them, lightning it was one of the burned out candles struggling to stay lit. "First, we'll do some basic divination to determine the situation in general." He explained as he sped to the table against the left wall and rummaged through the different shelves atop of it.

He returned with a small deck of tarot cards, shuffling them and muttering an incantation Liam couldn't make out. Flat simply watched with the same smile he had since they left, although Liam couldn't tell if it was from amusement or general happiness.

Ben held the cards out to Liam, gesturing for him to take a card. He obliged and slowly pulled the first card and flipping it over.

"The Devil Reversed."

The three of them were silent for a few moments as they all thought, pulling on the different symbolisms they learned before.

"The Devil itself represents bondage and powerlessness. Usual curse imagery." Flat thought out loud as he scratched his chin. His eyes stared at the floor as his brain worked.

"So if it was reversed, it would change to breaking free, reclaiming power. Maybe the curse was already lifted?" Liam suggested as he placed the card back onto the deck.

Ben gave a sigh and threw them onto the table behind him without much care. "That'll make retracing it even more difficult." He began to pace around the room, holding his head with one hand.

"...but we're still gonna try right?" Liam pleaded, looking between the two other boys. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Just don't expect it to work." Ben replied.

- -

The three stood along the points of an inverted triangle, drawn in chalk on the stone floor. Flat and Ben stood at the two vertices at the top, while Liam stood at the bottom, where a circle was partially drawn onto. His circuits were open, primed with already processed Magical Energy to begin the ritual.

Ben began first.

"Man crosses the hidden abyss, shadows retreating and light remaining."

The world began to darken, candles dimming, cracks light from the cellar door dissipating. In accordance with the Kabbalah Foundation, they were to cross Da’ath, the abyss which separated the gross physical world from the spiritual.

"Logic recedes, division upon division, to reach the one." Flat continued the incantation. Mana generated by the closest ley line began to stir more and more as the foundation was touched by the magi. The process was not completed yet, for that, the final mage must finish.

"The singular point, Wisdom incarnate. I am the vessel for the infinite light." Liam's circuits raged, not used to this level of working. This was far beyond any reinforcement he had tried before. This was true magecraft.

More and more magical energy poured into the spell, primed and ready for deliverance to the foundation. "God manifest, I bring, JHVH."

With the final bar spoken, the command created from incantation and magical energy sprung forth. The Foundation accepted the request, usage of the Kabbalist sefirot of Wisdom beyond the abyss and the appropriate name of God. The World changed with acceptance of the spell, delivering their wish.

Liam closed his left eye, allowing his right to remain open. Light sprung from Nothingness and blinded him-until white was all he could see. He turned his head in an attempt to observe the room. Nothing. All that remained was an endless expanse of light.

He raised his hand and saw a faint, black outline resembling something like a human hand. Tendrils of a much darker black wrapped around his arm. He pulled at them with his other hand. They were lifeless and thin, easily removed. Something akin to... hair.

‘A material for the curse?’ Liam thought to himself. They began to move, gathering together and forming a sort of shape. A spherical shape, which morphed more and more. The hair eventually parted from the sphere and retreated to its top. It revealed a face, a female face, someone familiar to Liam. He stood there for another minute, digging into his memories to find this random woman.

Almost on cue, the light vanished immediately, leaving only the cellar he was previously in. Ben was already moving to light the candles again. Flat stared at Liam expectedly, waiting for any news. Liam stumbled backwards. His body felt numb, his circuits dead from the sudden amount of work they were forced to perform.

"Well? Did you see anything?" Flat hurried over to stabilize Liam, bringing him over to a nearby chair. He blinked a few times before finally speaking.

"Yeah. It was a woman. Someone I swear I met." Liam rubbed his head.

"Did you get a good look at her?" Ben inquired once he finished lighting the workshop again. Liam nodded, trying not to move too much. A grin came across the boys face-which to Liam seemed to suggest something of a success.

"Well, guess we better get to work on a locator spell."